A Colorado hotel has fired two employees who posted an anti-military sign while hosting a military ball.
The Colorado Springs DoubleTree by Hilton issued an apology and announced that two supervisors were terminated for creating and displaying a sign that said the hotel would be refusing service to military members.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to provide again my sincerest apologies for the situation that took place last week during a Military Ball held at our property. I take this matter very seriously and personally as I have a brother who is a Navy Veteran,” Daniel Kammerer, the hotel’s general manager, said in a statement posted to Facebook.
“Two Supervisor-level employees, who have since been terminated, made poor decisions including displaying a sign that they created, which we find very offensive. Their actions were in no way associated with the values of the hotel management. Their actions do not reflect our principles or beliefs, and this is not how we train our employees. We deeply regret any offense to the service members and their guests, and have implemented a retraining of our employees to ensure this does not happen again,” the statement continued.
“We are honored and proud to support our Military community and their families, and look forward to continuing to serve those who serve us. Again, we are very sorry for the situation that occurred at our property and welcome all Military service members, their families and community to our hotel,” the statement added.
The statement took place after numerous hotel guests posted a photo of the sign on social media this month.
The sign, which appears to have been placed at a bar in the hotel, said, “No longer serving military personnel & their guest(s).”
The original post was removed after it became overwhelmed with negative comments, the post’s author, Aimee Osbourne told KOAA News.
“I’m regretful that anyone had to lose their livelihood,” Osbourne said.
However, subsequent posts remained, such as the one above from Justin Vames.
“So last night we took over 600 people to the #doubletreecoloradoSprings and paid over $50 a person. They came in and shut down our traditions. Treated us like crap, refused to leave food for guests in the bathroom or chatting. They said when they are seated they will be served. They charged us over $12 a drink which we all paid. And then left this sign on the bar! This event was a post deployment ceremony! These men and women where being honored for serving our county, but I guess serving them at the double tree is too much! Just so you know, we did not damage the building and there was no reason to treat us this way!” Vames wrote.
Vames added that he was aware of the hotel firing the two supervisors.
“Our property has a proud history of hiring veterans and welcoming the military as our guests. Last night two of our team members acted without the proper authority to close and exclude military guests from our hotel’s bar. This action is inconsistent with our values and we humbly apologize. The two team members are no longer employed at the property. We have attempted to contact the leaders of the group to apologize and confirm that our property is one that welcomes all, especially the men and women who serve our country,” Kamerer said of the incident.
